It’s been 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, but as the decades pass, advocates and leaders say it is important to keep the memories alive.
Monday marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, with ceremonies held at the site in Poland and around the world. On Jan. 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers liberated the Nazi-run death camp where more than a million people were killed, mostly Jewish.
“What they found were approximately 7,000 very ill and dying survivors. About 100,000 had been removed from Auschwitz to go on a death march, and many of those were murdered or died along the way,” said Belle Jarniewski, the executive director of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada.
Jarniewski said most survivors of the Holocaust are now in their nineties. She said as they continue to age, it is important to mark this anniversary and keep their stories and memories alive.
“It’s very important. I mean, they were the first-person witnesses to this genocide,” she said. “Hearing their stories is so important. And fortunately, of course, we have recorded testimonies of many survivors – including many survivors from Winnipeg as well – so that their stories will not be lost in the future.”
That sentiment was echoed by Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.
“It is incumbent on all of us to keep the living memory of the Holocaust alive in our time. What took place during the Holocaust is one of the worst crimes against humanity that any of us have ever known,” he said.
“When we see that there is a generation of young people today who needs to learn about the Holocaust, we are there to ensure that they will have the resources and the ability so that we can live up to that important saying – never again.”
You can learn more about the Holocaust and hear the stories of survivors by visiting the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada website.
-With files from CTV’s Maralee Caruso
